Interesting motherboards for retro computing.

Retro6

Retro6

Retro6

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I thought I'd start a thread on cheap interesting motherboards...

I just came across this Mini ITX board with a 600MHz processor, I'm not sure weather it be compatible with Windows 9x builds in the way of driver support but looks interesting... the only down side is that it doesn't have an AGP slot, but its no big deal. There is no floppy connector either, if the drivers support Windows 95 then it could be half decent but I think it having no floppy connector is a deal breaker.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VIA-EPIA...838364&hash=item2ac505bcf6:g:NiEAAOSwsRVcGTyP

What do you think?
 
I'd imagine it is too slow for Windows 98 gaming. My similar 800MHz VIA CPU is not fast enough for Quake 3. However Eden CPUs are interesting as they can be downclocked using setmul, so it could make a good DOS PC with the right soundcard in that PCI Slot. I rarely use floppy drives these days - why would you need one? Boot from CD to install Windows 98SE; I'm not sure there are any advantages to using Windows 95, as W98SE is more compatible, stable but still has proper DOS underneath it.

I get the appeal of these weird ITX boards though: https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=58872
 
almoststew1990 said:
I'd imagine it is too slow for Windows 98 gaming. My similar 800MHz VIA CPU is not fast enough for Quake 3. However Eden CPUs are interesting as they can be downclocked using setmul, so it could make a good DOS PC with the right soundcard in that PCI Slot. I rarely use floppy drives these days - why would you need one? Boot from CD to install Windows 98SE; I'm not sure there are any advantages to using Windows 95, as W98SE is more compatible, stable but still has proper DOS underneath it.

I get the appeal of these weird ITX boards though: https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=58872
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I was thinking more MS-DOS 6.22 with Windows 95 My MS-DOS install disks are on floppy and my CD Device driver is on floppy and also it may cause some problems doing an install from CD unless there is a CD version of MS-DOS 6.22 on CD with the CD device driver. I did buy an MS-DOS 6.22 CD a couple years back but I could never get it to work so I've always used floppy disks to install MS-DOS. I've also got a lot of old DOS games on floppy as well. If the board had a floppy input I'd be all over it. I'm planing on building an MS-DOS PC at some point with Windows 95 or possibly have Windows 3.11 along with a Win95 install. Its a nice looking board tho never the less. I also have an old mini ITX retro case that it would fit nicely in. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for a similar ITX board that has a floppy input.
 
On a side note there was a good video by Nostalgia Nerd on using the Wii hardware to make a DOS machine (well, emulated using DOS Box).. not sure if I can say anymore than that due to the rules but that is another option for a possible neat DOS set up.
 
Duke said:
On a side note there was a good video by Nostalgia Nerd on using the Wii hardware to make a DOS machine (well, emulated using DOS Box).. not sure if I can say anymore than that due to the rules but that is another option for a possible neat DOS set up.
Click to expand...
I'm not really a fan of emulation I prefer the real thing. Having a real DOS PC is a much better experience. :)
 
Ian_Eb said:
How desperate are you for an unusual motherboard? I may have a few lying around here. Will post photos if I can find them.
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Yeah that be great if you could although I'm not to desperate for one at the moment but I'd love to see what boards you have.
 
I challenge you @Retro6 to build a retro PC with a WinChip CPU and Socket 7 board :D Or if thats impossible, which it probably is, K6 / K6-2? I had a K6-2 back in the day :)
 
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